£5m Morrison deal put on ice

Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison could soon be on his way to Charlton after a ? 5million bid from Alan Curbishley.

Morrison, who is yet to play for the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup, will not discuss his future until after the finals but the Irish are aware of the possible move as they prepare for to tomorrow's make-or-break game against Saudi Arabia in Yokohama.

An Irish source told Standard Sport today: "Clinton has always said he wanted to play in the Premiership, preferably with Palace, but this bid will be too good to turn down for the club and the player. It means Clinton can continue to live in London and realise his dream to play at the top level. It also represents good value for Palace."

Morrison will be on the bench again when the Irish go for the twogoal win against the Saudis that would guarantee their flight to Seoul for the second phase of the tournament.

Ireland coach Mick McCarthy confirmed today that he is keeping faith with the team that started against Germany.

McCarthy, who reported no injury worries, said: "I will not change the way we play going into the game. If we need to change during the game that is a different matter."

That means Damien Duff will again partner Robbie Keane in attack, with Niall Quinn, David Connolly and Morrison waiting in reserve.

"I have to wait my time. I know my chance will come," Morrison said. "Of course I was disappointed not to get into the action against Germany but if I was Mick McCarthy I would have gone for Niall Quinn as well.

"He has the experience at this level and he proved it when he set Robbie Keane up for the equaliser. It was a great change that Mick made.

"I'm itching to get my chance but I know I have to be patient. The most important thing is that we get the goals and the win we need to make it into the second phase.

"It doesn't matter who scores so long as we get the two goals we need and win the match."

Midfielder Jason McAteer, who was injured during the opening 1-1 draw with Cameroon, is also likely to be among the substitutes. He was upset at being left out for the Germany game after declaring himself fit but dismissed reports that he was so miffed that he considered flying home.

"I was disappointed but that's a reaction that any one of the lads would have had," he said.

"Mick was 100 per cent right to leave me out. There was no argument-no disagreement and at no stage was I leaving.

"This is a massive competition and of course I wanted to play. I felt was very unhappy not to be picked but, looking back, Mick was right."

The Irish have also cleared up a misunderstanding with FIFA over a suspicion they had brought fans into a stadium on their team bus.

Brendan Menton, general secretary of the Ireland Football Association, said today he had explained to FIFA that the 10 supposed supporters were the squad's chef and members of McCarthy's technical team.

Most fans have to go through special security checks when they enter a stadium, including walking through metal detectors, and FIFA security chief Walter Gagg said on Sunday the organisation had been forced to intervene when it heard that a team had been transporting fans to the game.